Girish Mathrubootham has confirmed that he is leaving Freshworks, the Nasdaq-traded customer engagement software he founded in 2010. Mathrubootham, after almost 15 years at the helm, will now dedicate his efforts to Together Fund, the venture capital firm he co-founded to provide support to Indian startups in their early stages. Mathrubootham continues to influence the future of Indian tech, but this time, he is sitting on the other side of the table as he wants to empower other founders.

Ironic journey of Girish Mathrubootham with Freshworks

Girish Mathrubootham has had an iconic tenure with Freshworks. He began in Chennai with a small office and grew his company to become a global power in SaaS, which resulted in an industry-first IPO on Nasdaq in 2021. This was the first Indian SaaS company to go public on the US stock exchange, and it motivated a million entrepreneurs in India.

During his time of command, Freshworks has grown its product lineup to include a unified customer engagement platform on top of helpdesk software, with more than 60,000 customers around the world. Freshworks stood out among the many competitors in the market due to the focus on product-led growth, customer-centricity, and a robust company culture by Mathrubootham.

Rise of Together Fund

Mathrubootham will leave Freshworks as CEO, but he will still be a board member. Dennis Woodside joined the company as President in 2022 and will become CEO. Woodside is a seasoned operator with experience at Dropbox, Google, and Motorola, and has led the enterprise push at Freshworks. The departure of Mathrubootham is not sudden but a planned process.

Having now placed Freshworks on solid ground, Mathrubootham is shifting his entire focus to Together Fund, a founder-led venture capital firm which he co-founded with other experienced entrepreneurs in 2021. The fund targets initial-stage investments in Indian startups, especially SaaS, AI, and developer tools.

Together Fund is rapidly becoming part of the startup scene in India, investing in such potential businesses as Spendflo, SuperOps.ai, and Volopay. The difference is its founder-first approach, in which it provides not only capital but mentorship, operational advice, and connectivity to a network of experienced operators.

The role Mathrubootham has played has been a central role. His experience in taking Freshworks as a bootstrapped startup to a global public company provides him with unique insights into the problems founders experience. His full-time dedication will see Together Fund enhance its portfolio and increase its influence in developing the next generation of tech leaders in India.

Impact and a new phase in the market

Mathrubootham leaving the operator role to become an investor underscores a more general trend in the maturation of the Indian startup ecosystem. They are deciding to invest their time and money in cultivating the next generation as more founders reach scale and liquidity. This founder-led investment cycle is building an increasingly resilient and founder-friendly environment.

This shift also highlights the increasingly important role of SaaS in the tech story in India. As the world markets become more receptive to software products of Indian origin, a little encouragement at an early stage by seasoned operators can go a long way. The SaaS and AI focus of Together Fund also fits into the area of India engineering talent and low-cost innovation.

The change of leadership is an indication that Freshworks is moving into its next phase of enterprise penetration and scale of operation. The fact that Woodside has experience in managing large teams and operating in international markets will play a critical role as the company tries to compete with other giant companies such as Salesforce and Zendesk.

The company has already taken steps towards product capability expansion, the introduction of AI into its customer services, and cross-product synergies. As long as Mathrubootham continues to sit on the board, Freshworks will not lose its foundational ethos but adopt a more global, enterprise-oriented strategy.

Conclusion

The move by Girish Mathrubootham to step down from Freshworks and concentrate on Together Fund is a big milestone, not only to him but to the startup ecosystem in India. It is an evolutionary tale of founder to CEO, and mentor to investor. His experience shows how Indian businesses can impact the world and how essential it is to give back.